EuroWire September 2017

Transatlantic cable

Alisa Nelson reported in Missourinet (15 th June) that supporters of the measure say it could bring some 600 high-paying jobs to Missouri’s impoverished Bootheel region. According to one of the state’s representatives in the US Congress, the average salary for aluminium plant workers would be about $95,000. Managers would earn about $125,000. Salaries for the steel mill were not known. “Opponents of the proposal say giving lower electric rates to the few will hurt many of Missouri’s electric ratepayers,”wrote Ms Nelson. The opposition also contends that, in the absence of guarantees that the businesses will open and remain in Missouri, it is bad public policy to include lower electric rates as part of an economic development package. † Nucor Corp, the Charlotte, North Carolina steel mini-mill, has announced that it is investing an estimated $176 million to build a hot band galvanising and pickling line at its sheet mill in Ghent, Kentucky. The new line will have an annual capacity of 500,000 tons and expand Nucor Steel Gallatin’s product o erings. Estimated time to the beginning of operations is two years. According to Nucor the 72" line will be the widest hot rolled galvanising line in North America. The intention is to create synergies with the company’s other sheet mills and increase Nucor’s share of the coated steel market in the Midwest. The project “will allow us to move into segments of the automotive market we currently do not serve,” John Ferriola, Nucor’s chairman, CEO and president, said (25 th May). He noted what he termed “a key need in the marketplace” for high quality, hot rolled galvanised steel.

Telecom

Tech Week in the USA, like Infrastructure Week before it, produced not much news but at least one Trumpian puzzlement Some telecommunications companies may be having trouble deciding whether they are on their head or their heels in relation to US President Donald Trump. As reported by the technology news website Recode , which focuses on the business of Silicon Valley, the White House announced plans for a 22 nd June meeting with 30 tech company executives that would focus, among other areas of interest, on 5G wireless technologies. Responding to a request for a Tech Week demo by the US O ce of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Ericsson on 13 th June led necessary paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), only for it to be denied/dismissed on 14 th June. The FCC said only that it was “unable to grant [the Swedish telecom equipment and services company’s] application for the facilities requested. Withdrawn by applicant. Event was cancelled.”The agency’s “dismissed without prejudice” notice was signed by the chief of the FCC’s Experimental Licensing Branch. Attempting to report on the non-event, editor Monica Alleven of FierceWirelessTech was unable to obtain a comment from any of the parties to it: neither Ericsson nor the FCC, nor the telecom Sprint – Ericsson’s intended USA partner in the demonstration. (“Ericsson Sought Authority to Conduct 5G Demo with Sprint for President Trump at White House,” 16 th June) What would Mr Trump have seen if the presenters had been allowed to go ahead? According to Recode , the application indicates they wanted to use the 14.5-15.35 GHz frequency using one Ericsson base station and one piece of Ericsson-supplied user equipment. The company sought a licence to start the demo on 21 st June but said the operation would be limited in time to the technology meeting and any necessary setup. The FCC had previously given Ericsson permission to conduct experiments using 14.5-15.35 GHz; the company chose that particular spectrum because its equipment was designed to operate in Sweden. For the White House demo, the aim was to keep the base station and mobile unit within 50 feet of each other. Plans also stipulated a larger radius of operation of 0.06 miles in case it had to go somewhat farther than 50 feet. † Except for the intended participation of Sprint, the unaccountable cancellation of an apparently worthwhile demo might be chalked up to Mr Trump’s habit of sharply distinguishing friends from enemies. But Recode noted that Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, which controls Sprint, has been an active supporter of Mr Trump and met with him in December when he pledged to invest billions of dollars in USA tech companies and create thousands of jobs. In May, SoftBank announced that it had raised $93 billion for a new tech investment fund, set to become the largest in history. † And, while Mr Trump and Nokia are at daggers drawn, the American president has no known animus against Ericsson. Companies whose Tech Week invites were not clawed back include Amazon, Google and Intel. Dorothy Fabian – USA Editor

44

www.read-eurowire.com

September 2017